Just rented a 500 from Pop's in Chiang Mai. Did 300 km in extremely twisty roads (Chiang Mai to Pai and back is about 1,500 curves). Great control. Feel good factor high. Not for high speed. At about 110 km/h, wind buffeting sets in. Great torque and perfect to get out of those curves. Good seat, good driving position. Fuel economy only OK. Quite silent. Very agile in curves and in traffic.All in all, a very good bike. Not a speed monster, but agile, light, maneuverable. And good looking...

Saw all of the new Honda's Friday in Indy with an open mind, as they were new models. Hope this info is helpful.
I am a small person, so add that into whatever you take from here. 5'5 155 57 yrs. Sat on all 3 of the models X 10.
500R- sporty as you would guess. Nice feel and features. Seemed to be a good move for someone wanting a "sporty" bike without the baggage that comes with a Sport Bike.
500F- Great ergo's and fit. Urban bike that would seem to be easy to live with and could do most everything well in a closer to home setting. Naked styling and narrow. The tank fairings did not seem necessary, but?
500X- Longer reach to bars and to the floor, but comfy sitting. Adventure to Honda= mile eater. Cute little windscreen appears adjustable with tools. The larger tank is not obtrusive, a little more intense to service with the extra body work, but not as bad as the R.
All 3 had hidden plastic fasteners that probably won't have to be undone often, but will have to be at some point.
Valves may be a chore, as the head is close up top.
I believe Honda did a great job with this platform and will get better, as long as buyers understand what they need.
Didn't talk to any Reps.about these machines, but they sure were busy at the Honda Pit.

Cool deal. One thing I would like to see is how much space is under the seat. They couldnt pop the seat off at the dc show. I have a little bit of room under my sv rear seat and im afraid the honda has less.

“As you would expect, being a Honda, it’s easy to get on with and novice friendly, a doddle to ride, the power delivery will never catch anybody out – it’s brisk rather than fast but the pleasing surprise is that if you want to give it a good fistful of revs it’s truly engaging and fun, in a way that reminds me of the old and much loved CB500, which these bikes are designed to carry on the tradition of.

“The other surprise is that it is a proper little grown up bike in its own right and is not a pastiche in any way, like maybe the CBR600F is. It is also great value for money at just under £5000, with very few other budget giveaways we feared from a bike that is built in Thailand.

Saw all of the new Honda's Friday in Indy with an open mind, as they were new models. Hope this info is helpful.
I am a small person, so add that into whatever you take from here. 5'5 155 57 yrs. Sat on all 3 of the models X 10.
500R- sporty as you would guess. Nice feel and features. Seemed to be a good move for someone wanting a "sporty" bike without the baggage that comes with a Sport Bike.
500F- Great ergo's and fit. Urban bike that would seem to be easy to live with and could do most everything well in a closer to home setting. Naked styling and narrow. The tank fairings did not seem necessary, but?
500X- Longer reach to bars and to the floor, but comfy sitting. Adventure to Honda= mile eater. Cute little windscreen appears adjustable with tools. The larger tank is not obtrusive, a little more intense to service with the extra body work, but not as bad as the R.
All 3 had hidden plastic fasteners that probably won't have to be undone often, but will have to be at some point.
Valves may be a chore, as the head is close up top.
I believe Honda did a great job with this platform and will get better, as long as buyers understand what they need.
Didn't talk to any Reps.about these machines, but they sure were busy at the Honda Pit.

Just my .02

I was there too. I liked the look of them in person, but can't for the life of me figure out why Honda has decided to go non-standard in their switchgear. Is this how scooters are set up or something? It started with the NC700X, and now it extends to the 700 series and 500 series. By "it" I'm referring to moving the horn to where the turn signals are typically found, and vice versa. I found it odd, since the other Hondas there (CBR250, Fury, CB1100, Wing and variants) all had the standard setup.

I don't know about your experience there, but my observations were that the 500's had by far the most traffic, with the Wing/F6B second and the NC700X third. The CTX section, despite having four bikes out, the huge banner, and being closest to the center area ("on approach" in marketing speak), had the fewest people. The Honda reps were also extremely non-interactive. Then again, this was at 3:00 on Sunday, to be fair.

I was there too. I liked the look of them in person, but can't for the life of me figure out why Honda has decided to go non-standard in their switchgear. Is this how scooters are set up or something? It started with the NC700X, and now it extends to the 700 series and 500 series. By "it" I'm referring to moving the horn to where the turn signals are typically found, and vice versa. I found it odd, since the other Hondas there (CBR250, Fury, CB1100, Wing and variants) all had the standard setup.

I don't know about your experience there, but my observations were that the 500's had by far the most traffic, with the Wing/F6B second and the NC700X third. The CTX section, despite having four bikes out, the huge banner, and being closest to the center area ("on approach" in marketing speak), had the fewest people. The Honda reps were also extremely non-interactive. Then again, this was at 3:00 on Sunday, to be fair.

The VFR1200 has the horn and turn signal same as the 700 and 500. There really is no standard between brands and bikes, it seems every 20 or 30 years it changes and all the 20 and 30 year olds get bent.

You get used to it and before you know it you will have muscle memory and won't have to think about what to push. In the garage I have had at least two bikes with different button layouts for a long time plus a scooter or Cub in the corner that has the rear brake where the clutch is on my other bikes.

I am excited about seeing the 500s for real. I might have misunderstood my dealer but I thought he told me last week he could place orders as if 2/11/13 for spring delivery and he ordered as many of each model as his allocation from Honda would allow. Last spring he was able to order NC700Xs a month before another dealer in the area was.

Michaelsavage, What model. F,R or X ??? Price for rental, as I am in Thailand.

Cost 1400 bahts in Chiang Mai at Pops. Did not drive agressively. The CBR250R I had just tested before loved 130 km/h plus. For some reason, the 500 felt more noisy. Also, the torque you get at low RPM, you loose top speed. I loved that bike though. Accelerates fast, very good handling. And sexy looking too.

The VFR1200 has the horn and turn signal same as the 700 and 500. There really is no standard between brands and bikes, it seems every 20 or 30 years it changes and all the 20 and 30 year olds get bent.

Well, I'm 42, but only been riding for a few years. It seems odd to me that this cycle happens. I mean, what if someone came out with a bike where the front brake and clutch were reversed?

As far as adjusting to it, I can get that - especially if only riding one bike at a time. But I find it a bit of a pain when going back and forth between cars with different control layouts - not for turn signals, pedals, etc. Those are standardized. But for headlights and the like, it can get annoying in moments, and I want those things to be second nature. I guess I'm not as flexible as others in that regard. So as my stable grows, I'll try to keep the same control scheme for all when it comes to motorcycles.

Interestingly enough, BMW switched to what I will call standardized controls (since most of the bikes on the road these days fit the bill) when updating their F800ST to the GT.